The O.C.
The O.C. (meaning Orange County, California) was a FOX network teen drama TV series created by Josh Schwartz. The show aired from August 5, 2003 to February 22, 2007, lasting for four seasons & 92 episodes. It was produced by College Hill Pictures, Inc., Wonderland Sound and Vision, Hypnotic (in season 1) and Warner Bros. Television. Plot The series centered on Ryan Atwood, a troubled, but gifted young man from a broken home is taken in by wealthy couple, Sandy and Kirsten Cohen where he tries to cope with adjusting to his new life in the high-class world of Newport Beach. Cast *Peter Gallagher as Sandy Cohen *Kelly Rowan as Kirsten Cohen *Benjamin McKenzie as Ryan Atwood *Mischa Barton as Marissa Cooper (seasons 1–3) *Adam Brody as Seth Cohen *Chris Carmack as Luke Ward (season 1; special guest star season 2) *Tate Donovan as Jimmy Cooper (seasons 1–2; recurring season 3; special guest star season 4) *Melinda Clarke as Julie Cooper *Alan Dale as Caleb Nichol (season 2; recurring season 1) *Rachel Bilson as Summer Roberts *Autumn Reeser as Taylor Townsend (season 4; recurring season 3) *Willa Holland as Kaitlin Cooper (season 4; recurring seasons 1, 3) Production In 2002, creator Josh Schwartz met with Joseph "McG" McGinty Nichol and Stephanie Savage of production company Wonderland Sound and Vision. They told Schwartz they wanted to create a television show based in McG's hometown of Newport Beach, Orange County, California. Savage suggested producing a police or extreme sports "21 Jump Street"-style show, but Schwartz knew little about the genre. Having had experiences with people from Newport Beach during his time at the University of Southern California, Schwartz came back to them with his own characters. The show was pitched to Fox in August of 2002 and Fox targeted a summer launch for the show. Doug Liman was brought in to direct the premiere after McG withdrew due to his scheduling conflicts with the film, "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle." "The O.C." was confirmed for the 2003–2004 schedule in May and an August 5, 2003 broadcast date was selected in June of that same year. Schwartz said that the inspiration for the show came from being a fan of Larry Sanders, Cameron Crowe and other "quirky character-driven shows" such as "Freaks and Geeks", "Undeclared" and "My So-Called Life." He went to college at the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television, and later said that "The O.C." was "very much based on sort of the experiences I had when I was in college" as a "Jewish kid from the East Coast ... surrounded by all these kids from Newport Beach who were water-polo players, and these very blonde girls who only wanted to date them. I felt very much like an outsider." Although Orange County residents criticized the show's title, stating that people did not call the county by the phrase, Schwartz claims that USC students did say that they were from "The O.C." He also stated that the Cohen family in season one resembles his own family life, adding that "The dynamic between Sandy and Seth is very much based on me and my dad." Schwartz reasoned that, "As much as our audience enjoys living vicariously in this wealthy world, I think the true wish fulfillment comes from wishing that they had a family like the Cohens — where the parents could be that cool and that grounded and that loving, but also real parents." Schwartz said that he wrote the highly regarded pilot episode in his boxer shorts, saying: "I had no idea what would come of it and there was just that purity to it. The script for the pilot episode attracted most of the regular cast to the project, including film star Peter Gallagher, who said of the pilot: "In that recently post-9/11 America, I read this script and thought it was astounding. I thought it was exactly the right story to be telling at that point in time. It was about a family living in a not very embracing community, one that doesn't necessarily share all their values. .. they don't lose their sense of humor or their inclination to help. They still open their arms and embrace this outsider kid. And I thought that was powerful in an era with a kind of xenophobia, a kind of looking-over-your-shoulder and getting small and angry, sort of creeping into the PATRIOT Act-fueled environment. This espoused a kind of America... It just felt right. And it had a sense of humor." Filming locations Although "The O.C." is set in Newport Beach, financial penalties imposed for filming outside the studio zone meant much of the show was filmed in the Manhattan Beach, Los Angeles County region. Many of the beach scenes were also filmed in Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach and Torrance, California. Sites in Los Angeles County were used for many different on-screen locations, which include Ryan's hometown of Chino, Luke's father's Portland home, Johnny's father's Indio office and Tijuana. For the first episode, "Premiere", the Cohen family home was shot on location in Malibu. A mock pool house was built for use in the pilot, and taken down after filming completed. The Cohens' home was recreated on a soundstage at Raleigh Studios in Manhattan Beach for filming during the rest of the series; the pool was only 4-feet deep meaning that the cast had to act on their knees. External shots of the original house remained in use throughout the show. The pilot was shot on 35 mm film stock, while subsequent episodes used digitally post-processed 16 mm in order to reduce the cost of production. The Harbor School is the local school that the show's adolescents attend. Based on Newport's Newport Harbor High School, which executive producer McG attended, the filming location was Mount St. Mary's College, a private woman's college in Brentwood, Los Angeles. The University of California, Los Angeles was the location used to represent Berkeley and the University of Southern California was used to represent Brown University. The FAA First Federal Credit Union building in Hawthorne was used to depict the Newport Group in season two. Wayfarers Chapel in Rancho Palos Verdes was used three times on the show—twice for a wedding and once for a funeral. The Cohen's original home in Berkeley, which they return to in the episode "The End's Not Near, It's Here", was shot in South Pasadena, California. The restaurant dubbed the Crab Shack on the show is actually local landmark The Crab Cooker. Julie refers to the restaurant in a Season three episode by its real-life name. Scenes from the show were also shot at the landmark Wattles Mansion located in Hollywood, California. Cancellation Due to low ratings, it was rumored that "The O.C." would not return for a fifth season. In June 2006, Fox confirmed that "the current order for The O.C. is 16 episodes", but added that there was a chance to add more installments. In September of 2006, Rachel Bilson said that she felt like "the show is over" and co-star Kelly Rowan stated that many of the cast realized the show was close to being cancelled. Rowan said that "when fourth season was picked up for just 16 episodes this year the cast had a feeling the end was near." On January 3, 2007, Fox announced that "The O.C." would be cancelled. In a statement, Schwartz said, "This feels like the best time to bring the show to its close" adding that "what better time to go out than creatively on top." Fox launched an official campaign on their website called "Save The O.C." (which garnered over 740,000 signatures). There were also rumors that the show would be saved by The CW; however, the CW president Dawn Ostroff confirmed in January of 2007 that while the move was discussed, it was decided against. Ratings The pilot episode of "The O.C" attracted 7.46 million viewers in the United States and came second in its time slot behind the season finale of "Last Comic Standing." It was the highest rated show of the night in the 12–17-year-old demographic. The most-watched O.C. episode was "The Rivals" (the seventeenth episode of season one). It attracted 12.72 million viewers, and was the lead-out to "American Idol" (which attracted 29.43 million viewers that week). The show was the highest-rated new drama of the 2003–2004 season among adults aged 18 to 34, averaging a total of 9.7 million viewers. For the show's second season, the show moved to an "ultra-competitive Thursday" timeslot against the likes of "Survivor", "Joey" and "Will & Grace"; this is often cited as a cause of the show's decline in popularity. The move improved Fox's performance at the new time slot, but lost viewers, as average viewing figures decreased thirty percent from the previous season to 7 million. For the third season of "The O.C.", average viewing figures decreased a further twenty percent from the previous season to 5.6 million The Thursday 9:00 pm timeslot placed the show against two other very popular shows: "CSI" and "Grey's Anatomy." The fourth season of "The O.C." premiered in November of 2006 with very little promotion or advertisements from FOX, and was once again in the Thursday timeslot. The premiere episode attracted 3.4 million viewers, which was a series low. For the series finale, 6.7 million viewers tuned in; this was 76% more than the season average of 4.6 million viewers. Reception The first season of "The O.C." received generally positive reviews from critics and is frequently regarded as the best season. Upon the show's premiere, Gael Fashingbauer Cooper of MSNBC described Ryan and Seth's friendship as "the most promising plot". The New York Times noted that "Mr. Schwartz pulled it off, sneaking a truly smart show past the gatekeepers in the guise of something commercial and trashy and fun." The reviewer also praised how the show "steered clear of both Aaron Spelling-style camp and the soggy earnestness that often characterises teen drama" and praised the integration of the adult cast into the plotlines. IGN called it "far more engaging and interesting" than its predecessors in the teen genre. The reviewer pointed to the show's sense of humor and respect for its audience, praising the series as "very funny" and "well-acted", while referring to Mischa Barton as the weak link. Time Magazine critic James Poniewozik was fond of the premiere episode, saying that the show "looks to have enough heart, talent and wit to generate a few seasons' worth of luxurious suds. As Ryan would say, in the teen-soap business, being 100% original doesn't make you smart. Delivering a formula with so much style and believability that it feels new again—that does." Despite much positive reception, the first season was not without some criticism. San Jose Mercury News criticized the plot and the casting, saying that "the storylines usually involve the obligatory three-episode-arc drug problems or lost virginity with dialogue designed to keep a dog up to speed," and that "Whoever at FOX thought Benjamin McKenzie could pass for anything younger than 25 should be fired." The second season of "The O.C." was widely regarded as inferior to the first, but still received generally positive reception. IGN noted that Season 2 contains some of the best moments of the series, and praised the bisexual romance between Alex and Marissa. It was said to have "managed to surpass its ratings ploy outer trappings to actually work as one of the better Marissa plotlines, at least initially, by doing a solid job of portraying her "I've never done this before..." confusion and excitement." Another review praised episodes "The Chrismukkah That Almost Wasn't" and "The Rainy Day Woman" as standout quality hours of the series, and praised the storyline that focused on Sandy and Kirsten's marriage. In contrast to the first two seasons, the third season of "The O.C." was met with mostly negative reception. After the eventual cancellation of the show, Schwartz admitted that "the whole first half of the third season was a total mess." IGN faulted a season which, in their opinion, had "far too much time and too many episodes spent with the less than beloved character Johnny." IGN also noted that "Kirsten and Sandy both suffered from unsatisfying stories," and that the departure of character Caleb Nichol had been a mistake "as he had been a great character to bounce off both of the elder Cohens." In September of 2007, Schwartz admitted in an interview for New York that the show "went down the wrong road" with Johnny. However, the season did receive some praise. The new character Taylor Townsend was stated as being "played to perfection by Autumn Reeser" and her character was described as "one of the greatest elements of The O.C." Jeffrey Robinson of DVD Talk described the storylines as "very intelligent and also incorporate a great deal of humor to keep your interest." While looking back on the series in an interview for the complete series box-set, Schwartz explained that "somewhere around Season 3, for reasons too numerous to discuss, I lost focus. The network wasn't really supporting the show." Schwartz went on to say that Season 3 was probably "the most important season, because it's where I learned the most. About television, about myself as a writer, about discipline and trying to hold onto your focus even if you're hearing a lot of opinions or being forced to add things creatively that you don't agree with. And I don't think Season 4 would have been as fun or as adventurous or as weird and zany and ultimately emotional if it weren't for that experience." The final season of the "O.C." is generally regarded by fans and critics as a return to form for the series. Variety's Josef Adalian said that "show is once again in great creative shape." He added that "the scripts are snappy, the plots make sense, the acting's solid, and the music is appropriately indie", but criticized Fox for "throwing away" the show by giving it the Thursday 9:00 p.m. timeslot. Buddytv.com praised the season premiere, saying "this episode is the best OC episode since the show's first season. The absence of Mischa Barton character of Marissa Cooper is the best thing that's happened to The OC in a long time. The cast is now exceptional from top to bottom and the show is, at least in the first episode, much darker in tone than the first three seasons. This is a good sign." Later in the season, Buddytv.com lamented that "The OC is winding down, in all likelihood, and it's a shame. The show is hitting its creative stride just now, in its fourth season, and no one cares." Critic Alan Sepinwall said of the premiere, "Damn. That was... not bad. No, better than that. That was good. Confident, in character, funny on occasion (any scene with Che), genuinely touching at others (the comic book store intervention), really the most like itself the show has felt in a long time, maybe even going back to season one." In a review of a later episode, Sepinwall related that Season 4 was a "resurgent season" and that "every "O.C." episode review just turns into a list of things I liked." Belinda Acosta of The Austin Chronicle agreed, praising the show's "new energy" ''and its ability to successfully cover ''"the transition between high school and college that other series have stumbled over." Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker commented that the fourth season was "a succession of terrific subplots" and praised new main cast member Taylor "as a fine, funny love interest for Ryan." Greg Elwell of DVD Talk described Bullit as "the breakout character of the season" but commented that the season's "dark opening (...) didn't do much to keep viewers around." IGN's Eric Goldman was also critical, saying that "as amusing as Che was, his inclusion into some later episodes gets a bit tired." Goldman also commented that "the second half of Season 4 wasn't quite as solid as the first half". However, he added that while the fourth season had to prove itself again as an enjoyable watch "Josh Schwartz rose to this challenge (...) once again creating a show that was witty and self-aware." Accolades For the debut episode, "Premiere", Josh Schwartz received a Writers Guild of America Award nomination for Best Screenplay in an Episodic Drama, and casting directors Rush and Silverberg nominated in the Dramatic Pilot category of the Artios Awards. Luke's declaration in the premiere episode of "Welcome to the O.C., bitch" was placed 83rd by TV Land in its "100 Greatest TV Quotes and Catchphrases" in 2006. The first season of "The O.C." picked up four Teen Choice Awards, and was nominated for another two. Additionally, it was nominated for the Outstanding New Program TCA Award, and in Australia it won a Logie Award for Most Popular Overseas Program in 2005. For the second season the show was nominated for five Teen Choice Awards, and won four of them, including best drama. It was nominated for the Favorite Television Drama People's Choice Award, and Kelly Rowan won a PRISM Award for Performance in a Drama Series Episode, with Peter Gallagher getting a nomination. The second-season finale was nominated for a PRISM TV Drama Series Episode award. The third season was nominated for five Teen Choice Awards and won four of them, including "Choice Drama/Action Adventure Show" and "Choice Actor: Drama/Action Adventure," which Adam Brody won for the third consecutive year. Category:FOX Shows Category:2000s television shows Category:Drama